Month: May 2009

To short sale, or not to short sale? That is the question.

First – What is a short sale? Many people know, but not everyone.

When a person owes more on a property than it is worth, and they ask the bank to accept less than is owed on the property so that they can sell it, this is known as a short sale. Like when you owed your friend $50, but you only had $30 of it and you said, “sorry Mike, I’m a little short” and Mike said, “don’t worry about it”.

Why not buy short sales?

There are a variety of reasons why short sales do not go through. Here are 4;

1. The process of dealing with the banks on a short sale requires skill, effort and knowledge on the part of the listing agent (the person the seller hired to sell the house). Many do not possess this trifecta of assets.

2. There must be a hardship. Many sellers just want to sell short because their neighbor did, but their neighbor lost their job, or was never earning enough money to afford the home in the first place. Just because you want to, doesn’t mean you can.

3. If they buyer does have a legitimate hardship, then, that buyer, who is already (typically) despondent over their current financial situation, is required by the bank to go through their finances with a fine tooth comb to prove that hardship. Many people just don’t have the stomach for it.

4. Patience (or lack thereof). Short sales often take a very long time to get accepted. I’ve seen them take more than 4 months just to get approved. Many buyers just aren’t that patient.

In the month of April, 2009 in Las Vegas, 36% of the properties listed for sale were short sales. Only 6% of the closings were. This shows that short sales can work, but often (1 in 6 times that month) they don’t.

The prices on Las Vegas bank owned homes are mind-boggling.  Don’t wait for the bottom.  You can’t predict it.  You won’t know where the bottom was until it’s gone.  Really.  What are you waiting for?  If you would like information about buying a home to live in or an investment property in Las Vegas, with no cost or obligation, please contact me.

702-369-6000
or toll free @
1-877-7RE-JEFF
(1-877-773-5333)

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The Oxymoron in Las Vegas

I have heard that opposites attract, but how do you have multiple offers being presented on multiple properties in a buyer’s market?  Does that make it a seller’s market?  Or is it a seller’s-buyer’s market (like the color violet-blue, it’s kind of violet, but definitely blue)?  Or is it just that the prices have gotten so low, that none of the conventional reasoning applies?

I saw a house yesterday, in move-in condition listed for $26 per square foot!  Granted it was an older home that needed updating, and it was in a so-so neighborhood, but $26 per square foot?  By the way, it was listed for $26 per square foot, and the offers were multiple.  It sold for more.

I showed a home to a woman yesterday that was built in 2000 and was listed for $84 per square foot.  It was overall in good shape, but needed paint, carpet and some other minor cosmetics.  She really liked it.  This morning I learned that it already had 9 offers on it.  When I did a price comparison, I saw why.  It was priced too low, even for this market.  The banks are starting to intentionally under price properties so that they sell more quickly.

I had another client look at a home on Saturday that the bank had made real nice.  New carpet, fresh paint, a new sealed-burner gas stove and a matching dishwasher.  They had pulled it off the market while cleaning it up and then RAISED the price.  We joked that they should have put a refrigerator in if they really wanted to sell it.  Pricing is down to 1997 levels, and interest is high, especially in the under $300,000 range.

I’m not suggesting that the problems are solved. I was also on a street Saturday with about 15 houses and 5 were vacant, but the market is shifting again here. The question is, where is it going next? We still have a lot of inventory, so it’s not necessarily going up, but the dynamic is definitely changing.  Some banks are holding their ground a little more.  Sometimes they are squeezing the buyer, and that is not how a buyer’s market usually works.  The big key, is that while interest rates are low, you can buy a nice property for significantly less that you could buy the materials to build it and some of the banks are getting more and more competitive, creating all kinds of mixed market signals.  You could buy a lot of Las Vegas homes right now for about $500 per month.  Most renting Las Vegans are paying more than that.

The prices on Las Vegas real estate are just outstanding. Don’t wait for the bottom.  You can’t predict it.  You won’t know where the bottom was until it’s gone.  Really.  What are you waiting for?  If you would like information about buying a home to live in or an investment property in Las Vegas, with no cost or obligation, please contact me.

702-369-6000
or toll free @
1-877-7RE-JEFF
(1-877-773-5333)

Bookmark and Share